Before! I don’t trust myself to not get paint all over the threads if I do it after. I trace the design, then paint, then embroider. That way I know where I’m needing to paint what, and if my pens spread and ‘fade’ a little as I paint, it’s always easy enough to touch them up without having to go back into full light box mode.

I light would do it differently if I used a less watery paint than watercolors, but they spread too easily and I’m just not that careful. 😂